Pier Luigi Porta

Public happiness is the core idea of the Italian School during the latter half of the eighteenth century. This chapter focuses on that notion and on the impact of the analysis of some of the major Italian economists along those lines especially in connection with the reforms launched and implemented particularly in Naples and in Milan at the time. Among other figures, Antonio Genovesi, Pietro Verri, Ferdinando Galiani and Cesare Beccaria stand out for their contributions. Genovesi and Beccaria are also pioneering professors of the discipline in Naples and in Milan respectively. The chapter expands the study of the Italian case in three directions. In the first place it is shown that the Italian School is the offspring of the humanist movement, thriving in Italy and exported all over Europe since the twilight of the Middle Ages, and their emphasis on vita civile: it is significant that Genovesi, the master of the Italian School, calls the discipline economia civile. Secondly the Italians, with their analysis of happiness, are shown to be more relevant than other precursors (e.g. the Physiocrats) in paving the way to the formative steps of the British Classical School and to Smith’s Wealth of Nations in particular. Finally the chapter brings out the continuity of the Italian School through the subsequent centuries up to the present day.

Edited by
Luigino Bruni and Pier Luigi Porta

This book is a welcome consolidation and extension of the recent expanding debates on happiness and economics. Happiness and economics, as a new field for research, is now of pivotal interest particularly to welfare economists and psychologists.
This Handbook provides an unprecedented forum for discussion of the economic issues relating to happiness. It reviews the more recent literature and offers the interested reader an insight into the vast scope of the field in terms of the theory, its applications and also experimental design. The Handbook also gives substantial indications as to the future direction of research in the field, with particular regard to policy applications and developing an economics of interpersonal relations which includes reciprocity and social interaction theory.

Edited by
Luigino Bruni and Pier Luigi Porta

Offering a thorough assessment of the recent developments in the economic literature on happiness and quality of life, this Handbook astutely considers both methods of estimation and policy application. The expert contributors critically present in-depth research on a wide range of topics including culture and media, inequality, and the relational and emotional side of human life. Accessible and far-reaching, it will prove an invaluable resource for students and scholars of welfare and economics.